Never Better
by Pip-2250
Summary: Something awful happened that day, but James still fell in love with Lily Evans. Told from James' point of view. ONE SHOT


Never Better

(Takes place in Marauders' sixth year.)

It was a morning like any other. Sirius had woken the entire dormitory up with his singing from the shower, Remus had complained loudly about his singing, and Peter had fallen out of his bed, again. I, of course, did not fall out of bed or complain, I just went into the bathroom and flushed the toilet.

"Sweet Merlin!" Sirius yelled. "Prongs, if you do that again, I'll kill you!"

"Sure, Padfoot," I laughed. "Just hurry up!"

On our way down to the Great Hall, we were discussing our latest prank.

"The way McGonogall looked at us! Priceless!" Sirius raved as Peter snickered beside him.

"I do believe that was the first time she looked like she was about to curse us." Remus remarked with a calm smile.

I grinned at my friends and led the way into the Great Hall. We took our normal seats, in the middle of the Gryffindor table, talking and laughing loudly.

I quickly looked up and down the table for the girl I am pursuing. And there she was, Lily Evans, a fiery redhead with sparkling emerald eyes. I ruffled my hair and adjusted my glasses before looking back at my friends.

"Returned from Lily land, have we, Prongs?" Remus asked with a grin.

"Of course. I have to keep you lot in line."

Sirius laughed heartily. "As if you could, Prongsie!"

"Well, I could do better than you." I told him with a smirk.

"Yeah right." Peter snickered, "You can't even keep your owl in line, Prongs."

"Good one, Petey!" Sirius gave him a high five.

We continued eating and chatting until the morning post came in. I looked up out of habit and saw among the owls, a black owl bearing a black envelope. I elbowed Sirius and pointed it out to him.

The whole Hall seemed to have spotted it. A great hush descended over the hall as everyone watched the owl's progress.

It started circling over the Gryffindor table and I paled. 'Not Mum or Dad, not Mum or Dad.' I chanted in my head.

The owl finally landed in front of a small first year boy. He took the envelope with shaking hands and opened it. He made a strangled noise and dashed out of the silent hall.

His friends grabbed their bags and followed him.

The hall eventually broke into subdued chatter before the entire student body got up to go to their classes.

When my friends and I arrived at the Transfiguration classroom, we saw Lily Evans having a whispered conversation with Professor McGonogall. The Professor nodded curtly and Lily practically ran out of the room, a worried look on her face.

"Hey Professor, why does Evans get to skive off?" Sirius asked loudly.

"That is none of your business, Black. Potter, please come down here for a moment." She called back.

"But, I didn't do anything." I said, looking at my friends suspiciously as I walked to the front of the room.

"Potter, Evans will not be attending class today, can you please take notes for her?" McGonogall asked.

"Of course, Professor." I looked at her curiously, "why isn't she coming?"

"She is taking care of something for me." McGonogall said curtly.

I made my way back to my friends and took out some parchment and my quill.

Class seemed to drag on forever. When it finally ended, I knicked the Marauders' Map from Remus and tapped it quickly, muttering, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." Lines blossomed from the tip of my wand, creating a map of Hogwarts.

I scanned the Map and saw Lily Evans' dot in the Gryffindor Common Room, but she wasn't alone. The other dot, practically on top of her own, was labeled 'William Bailey.'

I froze. 'Lily doesn't have a boyfriend, does she?' I thought as I cleared the Map and handed it back to Remus. The guys were looking at me oddly and calling my name, but I didn't hear them. I left and stated sprinting to the Common Room. I knew it was a bad idea, I had to be in Herbology in twenty minutes, but I didn't care.

I ran up the corridor and stopped right in front of the Fat Lady's portrait.

"Aren't you supposed to be in class?" She asked me as I caught my breath.

I muttered the password and the portrait swung open slowly. I stepped into the Common Room and stopped, stunned. My breath caught and it felt like my stomach was doing flip-flops while my heart was falling through space.

There, on the couch, was Lily Evans with, who I could only assume was, William Bailey. She had the tiny first year gathered in her arms. He was still clutching the black envelope that was delivered to him this morning. He had tear streaks on his cheeks and kept sniffling as Lily stroked his hair and whispered into his ear.

"Do you have any other relatives?" Lily asked William quietly.

"Yeah, my dad's sister and my mum's parents are still alive." William answered. "Lily?" William asked as he turned to face her.

"Yes, Will?"

"You're not going to tell anyone that I was…you know…crying, are you?" William asked fearfully.

"I wouldn't think of it. Why don't you go back to bed? A bit of sleep will do you a world of good." Lily said as she ushered him to the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Lily turned back to the couch to grab her bag. As she walked to the portrait hole, she stopped when she spotted me.

"Do you need anything, Potter?" She asked quietly, her eyes boring straight into mine.

I shook my head as she walked past me and out of the Common Room.

I stood there for I don't know how long, staring into space.

"She's great, isn't she?"

I was jolted out of my thoughts by William, standing at the bottom of the steps.

"Wh-who?" I stuttered.

"Lily. She's great, isn't she? You like her a lot, I can tell." William said bluntly.

"Uh…I don't know." I replied lamely.

"Don't you ask her out all the time? Why would you ask someone out if you don't know if you like her?"

"Well, I…" I started, but I stopped and thought for a moment. Before Lily had been a challenge. She was different and exciting and she looked really cute when she was angry. But now… "Yeah, I do like her a lot, now."

"So, show her you like her. Try not asking her out so much. You should be nicer to people, too." William said as he gathered up his robe and bag and started walking back to the stairs.

"Thanks, William."

"Don't you have class?" William asked.

"Oh, yeah, I do." I started to leave, but stopped. "Hey, William!"

"Yeah?" He asked from the third step.

I walked over to him and looked straight into his eyes. "I'm sorry about your parents." I said sincerely.

William gave me a weak smile. "Thanks," he said and scampered back up the stairs.

I walked out of the portrait hole and all the way down to the greenhouses in a daze.

"Potter, you're five minutes late!" Professor Sprout called out as I walked in.

"Sorry, Professor," I called back to her as I went to join the other Marauders.

"Hey, mate, where've you been?" Sirius asked.

I didn't answer, I just stared at the back of Lily Evans' head with a huge grin on my face.

"Are you okay, Prongs?" Remus asked quietly.

"Never better."

After all, I had just fallen in love.

AN: I don't own the characters; they belong to J. K. Rowling, that wonderful author we all know and love. Well, my first attempt at posting my fan fiction. Any review would be lovely!


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